I still sift my confectioners sugar, even from the bags. In class my instructor said that you should do it one time, since sometimes it can clump in the bags or boxes. At first I didnt bother, but then one time when I made colored icing, I noticed white flecks or clumped sugar. Since then I always sift the storebought bags of confect. sugar. It only takes a few minutes more, but the icing will come out smoother.
What brand of icing sugar are you using? I find that with Redpath and Lantic (I think that's the name) it's fine to just dump it into the mixer and let it go however I used one from Wal Mart once and the icing, although not lumpy, was a little grittier in texture.
I used to sift when I first started however not now. Takes too much time and I tend to cover everything in sugar in the process! 
You should really measure sugar by weight, not by volume.
When you measure sugar by weight, sifting doesn't make any difference at all.
However, when you measure sugar volumetrically, sifting can make a huge difference. This is especially important to remember when making royal icing.
Sherri
Ok, I called my mom who used to teach cake decorating
and she said her icing sugar used to sift itself. Once when
she emptied it into the bucket she stored it in and again when
she put it in the mixing bowl. But sift it for royal icing for sure.
Thanks for all the replies,
Mindy
I didn't used to sift my powdered sugar (I use domino, top quality in my area) and one day while decorating using a small writing tip then again with the leaf tip, small clumps of sugar stopped them up several times, and until it was in the tip and actually stopped them up I couldn't see the clumps, now I sift once every time I make icing, and have not had that problem since.
As to when to sift, I always sift before measuring, don't know if this right or wrong just how I was taught. Most of the time I weigh out my sugar, and don't measure it by cups, and it weights the same whether it is sifted before or after.
Wilma
cakebybek-
Just so you (and everyone else) know, 10x does NOT refert to the sugar being sifted, it refers to how fine the sugar particles are. I'm not saying that some brands of sugar that happen to be 10x are not sifted, I'm just saying that those two factors aren't related. Hope this is clear... good luck!
10x refers to the size of the mesh screen that the sugar is processed through in the manufacturing process. The higher the number, the finer the screen and therefore the smaller the sugar particles.
In Canada and the U.S. cornstarch is usually the ingredient added to stop clumping due to moisture. Depending on the time of year, this can be a major factor. If you are using beet sugar, although it sweetens and tastes the same, for some reason, in the manufacturing process, perhaps due to the anti-clumping additive which is not always cornstarch, beet sugar can sometimes have more lump issues and be gritty. Therefore you can improve the texture by sifting it through a very fine mesh sieve.
In Canada, our powdered sugar is not sold by the pound, so either you have to weigh it for recipes calling for 1 to 2 pounds of powdered sugar or many folks have adjusted their recipes accordingly to be measured by the cup. Yes weight is more accurate, but if it is just buttercream icing and you have taken this into consideration, I don't find that measuring by the cup makes much difference. It is more of an issue for royal icing, true.
I sift my powdered sugar because I live in a humid climate.
Hugs Squirrelly
Sifting not only takes out the lumps but it also aerates the sugar, flour whatever. Sifted it will produce a slightly fluffier icing than it would unsifted. The more you sift it the fluffier the icing
I totally, totally agree. Haha, but we are dinosaurs because people don't want to sift anymore. They either just dump the flour or sugar or cocoa or whatever or they whisk it or stir it. Now this does help with some lumps and somewhat combines things too but it doesn't aerate.
A lot of the cooking shows are recommending just whisking the flour or powdered sugar, I guess as a time saving measure. But it does make such a difference in the texture doesn't it?
Hugs Squirrelly
Anytime I give in and sift mine......it's a nightmare! It's so dry in Kansas that the static electricity has powdered sugar floating everywhere!!! It's a huge mess. It even sticks statically to the sides of the sifter and won't come down to be sifted!!!!
I give up!!!!!!
Anytime I give in and sift mine......it's a nightmare! It's so dry in Kansas that the static electricity has powdered sugar floating everywhere!!! It's a huge mess. It even sticks statically to the sides of the sifter and won't come down to be sifted!!!!
I give up!!!!!!
Haha, true, I have the same problem, try sifting into a really large deep bowl, it doesn't go all over as much. Also, you can use a fine sieve rather than a sifter and just shake it into a bowl.
What, you don't like fine white dust all over everything, haha! You know, my fridge is over three feet away from where I usually sift and the top of it ends up with a fine white coat sometimes. So that is how much it gets into the air. Knew I should have bought a white fridge instead of a black one, haha!
Hugs SQuirrelly
...or hey....I can set up a cardtable and drape a wet sheet over it and then crawl under there to sift!!!! Y E S !!!!!!
Now that sounds like a fun thing to do on a Saturday night, haha!
Doug, I am in a humid climate. I have done the pot of water on the stove thing (but don't want to run a humidifier and creat other issues). It doesn't help that much when the temperature is really cold and the heat is on.
Hhmn, so wet sheet it is, haha! Welll at least with a sheet, nobody can accuse us of being wet blankets, right?
Hugs, Squirrelly
I sometimes like to use my grandmother's lovely copper handsifter (one of those can-like contraptions where you squeeze the handle four million times to get your sifted stuff out) but the static electricity it generates is insane! It's almost as if electrically-charged powdered sugar defies the laws of physics...I keep meaning to ask a chemical engineer friend of mine if the copper ions have anything to do with it. I don't think humidity is the issue in my case because I have a humidistat on my a/c system and keep the humidity in my house at ~ 40%. *Shrug*
Now I just use a spoon and a sieve for sifting. It's much less work and produces the same results...and no crazy sugar problems.
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